All about Policing with a sprinkle of Criminal Justice – written by a Secret Contrarian
Nationwide crime is still on the rise, but why? Crime continues to plague American communities across the Nation. In the wake of the widespread civil unrest and violence that beset much of the country in 2020, crime rose to levels unseen in decades. Unfortunately, while the riots and looting have abated, overall crime rates have not.
— Read on americafirstpolicy.com/latest/2022-year-end-review-crime-in-america
Get a .PDF copy of the report HERE
The Community Responder Model – Center for American Progress
— Read on www.americanprogress.org/article/community-responder-model/
get .pdf here
Cities with the Biggest Homicide Rate Problems
This report compares Blue states to Red states.
— Read on wallethub.com/
This is the report to the Board of Commissioners. The dilemma is that if police could never pursue then all the criminals would have to do is drive away fast enough until the police have to stop. This would be for all crimes. Speeding? Don’t stop and keep driving. What will the police do? They can’t follow you. When stopped for any crime simply drove off. I know this sounds ridiculous but why would anyone stop to be arrested? Drive away and when the police stop following you go home or to a friends and then go home tomorrow or report your car stolen. There would be almost no way to make someone comply with the law.
I understand that it is dangerous to engage in vehicle pursuits but it is the threat of pursuits that makes people comply with the law.
For example look at street and bridge (the Bay Bridge) takeovers where the street or bridge is shut down to traffic and cars or motorcycles & 4 wheelers do street stunts. The police can’t pursue, the drivers are difficult to identify so arrests are rarely made. This is why in some neighborhoods these events are weekly occurrences. Police can’t pursue, no threat of apprehension, thus creating a lawless atmosphere.
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23785994/bpc_23-082-pursuit-report.pdf
A lesson from Europe. An interesting article from City Journal about the value of adding more cops.
— Read on www.city-journal.org/article/invest-in-more-cops
Crime, particularly violent crime, is a pressing concern for the American people. The surge in homicide and associated violence in the past three years has made voters skittish and prompted aggressive partisan finger-pointing. This increase has not, however, prompted significant investment in our criminal justice system. Ironically, as this report argues, this increase in violent […]
— Read on manhattan.institute/article/modernize-the-criminal-justice-system-an-agenda-for-the-new-congress
“Nationally, only 4 percent of police funding goes toward solving homicides,” THIS this is a very complicated statement?! Most PDs across the nation investigate ZERO homicides. So their funding would be zero. Most PDs don’t have a homicide unit. Conversely PDs in large cities have as it’s homicide budget second only to patrol. I would think that Philadelphia has a homicide budget well above 4% and if not that is probably where some of the problem is with not solving homicides.
— Read on www.thetrace.org/2023/04/philadelphia-police-most-wanted-list/
Recent Bail changes have hand cuffed police and judges from setting appropriate bail. Before the new bail changes Police were able to hold offenders (really for 1 or 2 days) until arraignment or post bail based upon the types of crimes the offender was arrested for. This was helpful especially when dealing with volatile situations (like neighbor disputes and domestic violence) where police could hold an offender overnight until arraignment by a judge. There are other situations when police arrest persons on warrant and that person used to be turned over to the municipality to answer the warrant and held to see a judge. This made the offender accountable to the criminal justice system. Now many more offenders are ignoring the fact that they have to attend court.
At arraignment “prior to the recent bail changes” a judge had the freedom to release the offender, hold the offender, or put bail on the offender. Now current legislation has curtailed the judges freedom to hold an offender or to set bail and it has become almost automatic for most crimes to release the offender. What has resulted is an augment that recidivism has increased as a result of the bail changes which has led to a decrease in public safety.
John Jay College has just released a report “Does New York’s Bail Reform Law Impact Recidivism?” that tends to disprove the premise that the NY bail reform changes have increased offender recidivism. However, if you’re on the ground in the criminal justice system there is an overwhelming sense that recidivism is one of a few significant outcomes that has resulted since the changes in bail reform. Another is increased disrespect by offenders to officers and probation.
The article “Straight Talk About Bail Reform” argues that bail reform has led to an increase in recidivism by offenders. The article has several links with data supporting it’s argument. One prominent link is to a New York Post article “Bail ‘Reform’ Increased Crime – and Misleading Studies Don’t Prove Otherwise” that makes an extensive analysis how New York’s bail reform increased recidivism and how the John Jay Report (listed above) erred with it’s analysis. The professors should look at the New York Post article and recalculate their finding and submit a correction
If you believe that the recent changes in bail reform are good please challenge these ideas to the “Straight Talk About Bail Reform” article and the New York Post article “Bail ‘Reform’ article. Another helpful article is “More Criminals, More Crime Measuring the Public Safety Impact of New York’s 2019 Bail Law”.
Also when considering Bail reform changes keep the following points in mind:
Additional Perspectives – How Long is Long Enough? Task Force on Long Sentences Final Report
— Read on counciloncj.foleon.com/tfls/long-sentences-final-report/additional-perspectives
Gun thefts from cars are the largest source of stolen guns—one that continues rising in parallel with rising rates of gun sales and violence.
— Read on everytownresearch.org/gun-thefts-from-cars-the-largest-source-of-stolen-guns/
All about Policing with a sprinkle of Criminal Justice - written by a Secret Contrarian
News and professional developments from the world of policing
A veteran police chief committed to improving police leadership, trust, effectiveness, and officer safety.
